Flydubai to resume regular flights from July 7, aims to fly to 66 destinations by summer

Dubai airline flydubai has opened up bookings for regular passenger flights to 24 destinations, including cities in Africa, Iran and Eastern Europe, it announced on Wednesday.

The destinations, subject to government approvals include: Addis Ababa, Alexandria, Almaty, Amman, Baku, Beirut, Belgrade, Bucharest, Dubrovnik, Esfahan, Juba, Kabul, Khartoum, Kiev, Krakow, Lar, Nur-Sultan, Prague, Sarajevo, Shiraz, Sofia, Tbilisi, Tehran and Yerevan.

Destinations and flight frequencies will continue to be added to the schedule over the summer, the airline said.

Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer of flydubai, said: “Flights are available for booking from today and will operate from July 7. We are initially planning to operate to 24 destinations and we will continuously add destinations and flight frequencies to the network and we expect this to increase to 66 destinations over the course of the summer.

“This, of course, will be dependent on countries being able to open up and accept international travel.”

Flight bookings can be made on flydubai’s website. Passengers are required to make sure that they are up to date with the regulations from the IATA Travel Centre for their whole journey, the statement said.

Earlier this week, Dubai announced that tourists would be allowed to return from July 7, while residents and citizens from the emirate are permitted to travel to any international destination beginning June 23.

Officials issued a comprehensive set of protocols and guidelines that must be observed by all visitors, residents and citizens as they return to the country, or exit it, via the airport in Dubai.

Read: Dubai to welcome tourists from July 7, unveils new travel protocols for all residents and citizens

“Following the recent announcement we welcome a return to service in a safe and measured way,” said Obaidalla.

“We have redesigned our passenger journey that is built upon existing high standards to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19.”

Last week, Emirates also announced that it would offer scheduled passenger flights to 10 additional cities, increasing the total number of destinations served by it to 40.

Read also: Emirates announces flights to 10 new cities; offers connections via Dubai to 40 destinations

The airline has said it plans to further expand its network and offer additional destinations.

“We believe that cities around the world are conducting ongoing reviews and will soon follow suit to update their border entry requirements for international travellers,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates chairman and  CEO said on Monday.

“The next few weeks will be a big test for the whole aviation industry in many ways. At Emirates we see a positive trend of traffic building up across our network over the past weeks, and we are ready to serve our customers.”

Also read: Next few weeks to be a ‘big test’ for aviation industry – Emirates’ Sheikh Ahmed